


Wrong Place, Wrong Time

by Kaelynisfree



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Claustrophobia, Explosions, F/M, Ficlet, Nonbinary Hawke - Freeform, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 04:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6104554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaelynisfree/pseuds/Kaelynisfree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being from Kirkwall, Donnic knew best that all Kirkwall did was take and take. He never imagined it might try to take her.</p><p>What Aveline knows best is that even when tragedy occurs, the world keeps on turning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was "Aveline is in the chantry when it explodes. Donnic and Aveline pov."
> 
> I'm sorry.

There is so much that Aveline can do for Kirkwall.

Kirkwall has always been a mess, but she knows she can fix it. These things take time, but she can do it.

All she has to do is get up.

—-

The Chantry explodes and Donnic can feel his heart catch in his throat. He shields his eyes from the burst of light but his ears cannot be protected from the sound. The courtyard of the Gallows is far enough away from the Chantry, but debris still rain down on them as the ringing continues in their ears.

He wants to run but his legs won’t move. He scans the Gallows. It’s obvious nobody is sure what is happening. He catches the gaze of the other guardsmen. They watch him, not the Chantry. They know.

She was-

No.

Maybe she hadn’t made it there yet. Maybe she was caught in Hightown and is standing, watching with her own terror. No, not terror. She would be angry, jaw clenched, eyes piercing.

She could be yelling orders at the guards she’d brought as backup. She’d be the first to respond. To send help.

She always knows what to do.

—-

She cannot think. There is a mess in her head and she can’t seem to pull out a single coherent thought. It strikes a nerve and fear begins to creep into her mind, crowding her brain with unhelpful thoughts. She always knows what she’s thinking. Why doesn't she know what she is thinking now?

She takes a breath, but her mouth fills with dust that she coughs out. It’s tight and her ribs hurt. She lets out a strangled sound. Hurts. Ok. That’s clear enough.

She focuses on that, pinpointing what exactly in her body hurts. Her entire body is burning with a baseline pain, but her leg… it hurts more than anything. It’s probably broken. She twists to get a better view, her ribs protest and she settles back down. It’s not like she can move much anyway. She can feel that she’s trapped between… debris? Did the Chantry collapse?

She tries to focus, to remember what happened. She had been going the Chantry in order to get the grand cleric for mediation purposes. She was told Elthina was in the lower levels. So Aveline and her group made their way down. and then there was a flash of light… loud explosion.

Someone tried to blow up the Chantry…

No. Someone did blow up the Chantry. And she is still alive.

—

Donnic watches the group fall to pieces. The anger. The arguments. He cannot act, cannot move. He can only observe.

The Champion doesn’t yell.

Hawke is calm. Maybe they didn’t know she had been in the Chantry.

—-

She hears a small voice far to the left of her. It brings out of her head and back to her body. It still hurts.

“Captain…?”

Aveline coughs, attempts to move her head to find where the voice is coming from. “I’m here, Guardswoman,” she says when she can’t manage to move enough.

“What happened?” the voice is small, unsure. “Was it Qunari again?”

Aveline takes a shallow breath, it’s a bit easier and her thoughts are a little more clear. She flexes her hands and notices she’s clutching Wesley’s shield still.

It must have protected her from the worst of the blast. Of course it did… her Wesley…

-No. It isn’t time to think about that. She tries to use the shield to push some debris away, but it shifts whatever is pinning her legs down and a sharp pain shoots up. She doesn’t scream.

"Captain?”

She squeezes her eyes shut and takes a deep breath. If only it didn't hurt so much.

“I don’t know, Guardswoman.”

It terrifies her that she doesn’t.

—-

She’s so strong. His Aveline. She had to be alive.

From across the Gallows, he watches Hawke plunge a knife into the other mage. It doesn’t help. It doesn’t make him feel better. Debris still falls. Nothing has changed.

He wonders if Hawke realizes this. It’s too late now. The mage crumbles to the ground as everyone watches. It’s not justice, but retaliation.

He’s glad she’s not here to see it. She would have let Hawke do it, but… she would never look at them the same.

—-

“Guardswoman… Teran?” She says her name finally. She owes it to her.

“Yes, Captain?” Even in such dire circumstances the respect remains.

“We’re going to get out of here… It’s going to be ok.”

Aveline isn’t a good liar, never has been, but she finds it’s easier when she is trying to believe it herself.


End file.
